Brush assembly for vacuum cleaner and vacuum cleaner employing the same

ABSTRACT

A brush assembly for a vacuum cleaner includes a brush body having a suction pathway in fluid communication with a cleaner body of the vacuum cleaner; a brush having a suction port in fluid communication with the suction pathway of the brush body, the brush being disposed to rotate at the brush body, and a sealing part sealing between the suction pathway and the suction port for the brush to rotate with respect to the brush body. The sealing part forms a gap for outside air to enter the suction pathway of the brush body through as the brush rotates with respect to the brush body.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 toKorean Patent Application No. 2005-89821, filed Sep. 27, 2005, thedisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner. More particularly,the present invention relates to a brush assembly for a vacuum cleaner.

2. Description of the Related Art

Generally, a vacuum cleaner includes a brush assembly, an extensionpipe, a handle, a suction hose, and a cleaner body. The brush assemblyhas a suction port facing a cleaning surface and sucking dust, or dirt,and the like (hereinafter referred to collectively as contaminants) withair. The extension pipe is in fluid communication with the brushassembly to guide the sucked contaminants and air. The suction hoseguides the air with contaminants moving through the extension pipe tothe cleaner body. The cleaner body has a vacuum generator for generatingsuction force.

In the vacuum cleaner, a motor of the vacuum generator disposed in thecleaner body generates suction force. Contaminants on the cleaningsurface are sucked with air through the suction port formed in the brushassembly by the suction force. Contaminants and air sucked through thesuction port are moved to the cleaner body through the extension pipeand the suction hose. Contaminants that enter the cleaner body areseparated from air and then collected in a dust collector. Therefore,air and contaminants pass through the brush assembly, the extensionpipe, the suction hose, and the cleaner body.

When cleaning using the vacuum cleaner described above, a user graspsthe handle to push or pull the brush assembly. When the brush assemblyis pushed forward, the suction port of the brush assembly approaches thecleaning surface as a result of the applied force while the suctionforce applies negative pressure to the suction port. As a result, theuser should push the handle forward with a fairly strong force for thebrush assembly to move forward. However, when pulling the brushassembly, the suction port of the brush assembly receives the appliedforce in a direction that causes separation from the cleaning surface sothat the applied force cancels out the suction force. Consequently, highnegative pressure is not applied to the suction port of the brushassembly. The user can pull the handle backward with a weak force forthe brush assembly to move backward. When the user pushes or pulls thebrush assembly with the handle, force (hereinafter, referred to ashandling force) that the user should apply to the handle is different.In other words, a handling force required to push the brush assemblyforward is greater than a handling force required to pull the brushassembly backward. Therefore, it is inconvenient for the user to pushthe brush assembly forward. Furthermore, when cleaning a soft surfacesuch as a carpet, it is hard to push the brush assembly forward becausethe cleaning surface sticks to the brush assembly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been developed in order to overcome the abovedrawbacks and other problems associated with the conventionalarrangement. An aspect of the present invention is to provide a brushassembly for a vacuum cleaner and a vacuum cleaner employing the samethat requires weaker force than the conventional art to push the brushassembly forward.

To this end, a first non-limiting aspect of the invention provides abrush assembly for a vacuum cleaner comprising, which includes: a brushbody having a suction pathway in fluid communication with a cleaner bodyof the vacuum cleaner, a brush having a suction port in fluidcommunication with the suction pathway of the brush body, the brushbeing disposed to rotate at the brush body, and a sealing partconfigured to seal between the suction pathway and the suction port forthe brush to rotate with respect to the brush body, the sealing partforming a gap for outside air to enter the suction pathway of the brushbody through as the brush rotates with respect to the brush body.

A second non-limiting aspect of the invention provides vacuum cleanerthat includes: a cleaner body configured to generate suction force; anextension pipe assembly in fluid communication with the cleaner body,the extension pipe assembly forming a passage for contaminants; and abrush assembly in fluid communication with the extension pipe assembly,the brush assembly being configured to draw in the contaminants, whereinthe brush assembly includes, a brush body having a suction pathway influid communication with the extension pipe assembly, a brush having asuction port in fluid communication with the suction pathway of thebrush body, the brush being disposed to rotate at the brush body, and asealing part configured to enable outside air to enter the suctionpathway of the brush body as the brush assembly moves in a firstdirection, and configured to prevent outside air from entering thesuction pathway of the brush body as the brush assembly moves in asecond direction.

Yet another non-limiting aspect of the invention provides a brushassembly, that includes: a brush body, a brush; and means for forming agap through which air passes.

Other objects, advantages and salient features of the invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed description, which, taken inconjunction with the attached drawings, discloses non-limitingembodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent and more readily appreciated from the following description ofthe embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings ofwhich:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a brush assembly for a vacuumcleaner according to a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a sectional view illustrating the brush assembly of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a cut-out, perspective view illustrating the brush assembly ofFIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view illustrating the brush assembly ofFIG. 2 taken along a line IV-IV in FIG. 2,

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating a non-limiting example of the brushassembly of FIG. 1,

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating another non-limiting example of the brushassembly of FIG. 1,

FIG. 7 is a cut-out perspective view illustrating the brush inclinedwith respect to the brush body,

FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view illustrating an exemplaryrelationship between an upper sealing and an under sealing when pushingthe brush assembly of FIG. 1,

FIG. 9 is a partial sectional view illustrating an exemplaryrelationship between an upper sealing and an under sealing when pullingthe brush assembly of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating a vacuum cleaner employing abrush assembly according to the present invention

Throughout the drawings, like reference numerals will be understood torefer to like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention willbe described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.Referring to FIG. 1, a brush assembly 1 for a vacuum cleaner accordingto an embodiment of the present invention may include a brush body 10, abrush 20, and a sealing part 30.

The brush body 10 may include a suction pathway 11 in fluidcommunication with a cleaner body 110 (see FIG. 10). The suction pathway11 may form a passage through which the sucked air and contaminants moveand may be disposed inside the brush body 10. An end of an extensionpipe 121 in fluid communication with the suction pathway 11 may beconnected with a side of the brush body 10. The brush 20 may be disposedat the other end of the suction pathway 11 to rotate with respect to thebrush body 10 within a predetermined angle range. Furthermore, a pair ofwheels 5 may be disposed at both sides of the brush body 10 for thebrush body 10 to move on the cleaning surface.

The brush 20 sucks contaminants from the cleaning surface, and mayinclude a suction port 21 in fluid communication with the suctionpathway 11 of the brush body 10. The brush may be disposed at the brushbody 10 to rotate. In this embodiment, the brush 20 may be disposed torotate with respect to the brush body 10 within a predetermined anglerange via a pivot point, e.g., a hinge, 40 disposed at a side of anupper portion of the suction port 21. It may be preferable that thebrush 20 can rotate with respect to the brush body 10 by approximately15-20 degrees. Also, a cover 29 may be disposed on the brush 20 toimprove the appearance.

The sealing part 30 may be configured to seal between the suctionpathway 11 and the suction port 21 so that air and contaminants suckedinto the suction port 21 can move to the suction pathway 11 as the brush20 rotates with respect to the brush body 10. The sealing part 30 mayform a gap G (see FIG. 5), through which outside air may directly enterthe suction pathway 11 of the brush body 10 as the brush 20 rotates overa predetermined angle with respect to the brush body 10. The sealingpart 30 may include an upper sealing 31 formed at the suction pathway11, and an under sealing 32 extending upward from a top end of thesuction port 30 and configured to slide on the upper sealing 31.

In this non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the upper andunder sealing 31 and 32 may each be formed in a substantiallyrectangular pipe shape. A front wall 33 of the under sealing 32 may belower than both sidewalls 34, 35 thereof. The front wall 33 among fourwalls 33, 34, 35, 36 of the under sealing 32 may be farthest away from arotation center C on which the brush 20 rotates with respect to thebrush body 10 (namely, the hinge 40). The under sealing 32 may be bentbased on the hinge 40 so that the under sealing 32 can slide smoothlyinside the upper sealing 31 as the brush 20 rotates with respect to thebrush body 10. Therefore, as the brush 20 rotates with respect to thebrush body 10 at the predetermined angle θ, a gap G through whichoutside air enters is formed between a top end 33 a of the front wall 33of the under sealing 32 and a bottom end 31 a of the upper sealing 31,as shown in FIG. 5. At this time, as the brush 20 may become inclineddownward with respect to the brush body 10 over approximately 2 degrees,the top end 33 a of the front wall 33 of the under sealing 32 and thebottom end 31 a of the upper sealing 31 may form gap G through whichoutside air enters. As the brush 20 rotates with respect to the brushbody 10 by a maximum angle, the gap G has a maximum size. In the brushassembly 1 according to this embodiment, as the brush 20 rotates withrespect to the brush body 10 by approximately 15-20 degrees, the gap Gformed by the sealing part 30 may have a maximum size.

Furthermore, in addition to the exemplary method for forming the gap Gin the sealing part 30 described above, various gap-forming methods arepossible. Another gap forming method may be to form at least one outsideair hole 39 so that outside air may enter through on the front wall 33′of the under sealing 32 as shown in FIG. 6. As the brush 20 rotates withrespect to the brush body 10, the bottom end 31 a of the upper sealing31 may open or close the at least one outside air hole 39.

Hereinafter, operation of the brush assembly 1 for the vacuum cleaneraccording to an embodiment of the present invention will be explainedwith reference to accompanying drawings. In this non-limiting example,the vacuum cleaner is being used to clean a surface that is soft, suchas a soft carpet. As a user grasps the handle 123 (see FIG. 10) of theextension pipe assembly 120 (see FIG. 10) and pushes it forwards, thebrush assembly 1 is enabled to move on the carpet in a direction ofarrow A of FIG. 7 by the pair of wheels 5.

At this time, the brush assembly 1 may receive approximatelysimultaneously both a first down force applied when the user pushes thehandle 123 forward, and the second down force applied by the suctionforce operating in the suction port 21 of the brush 20. Therefore, asthe user pushes the handle 123 forward, the brush 20 of the brushassembly 1 may rotate downward with respect to the brush body 10 basedon the hinge 40 so that the gap G through which outside air D enters thesuction pathway 11 of the brush body 10 is formed on the sealing part30. In other words, as the brush 20 rotates with respect to the brushbody 10, the under sealing 32 of the brush 20 may separate from theupper sealing 31 of the brush body 10 so that gap G may be formedbetween the top end 33 a of the front wall 33 of the under sealing 32and the bottom end 31 a of the upper sealing 31 as shown in FIGS. 7 and8. Outside air D may then directly enter the suction pathway 11 throughthe gap G between the under sealing 32 and the upper sealing 31, so thatnegative pressure applied to the suction port 21 decreases. As a result,a magnitude of the force required for the user to push the brushassembly 1 is decreased as compared with the conventional vacuumcleaner. Consequently, it is easier to clean soft cleaning surface suchas a carpet.

As the user pulls the handle 123, the brush assembly 1 may be caused tomove on the carpet in a direction of arrow B of FIG. 3 by a pair ofwheels 5. At this time, the brush assembly 1 receives both an upwardforce caused when the user pulls the handle 123 backwards, and downwardforce caused by the suction force operating in the suction port 21 ofthe brush 20. Then when the user pulls the brush assembly 1, the upwardforce and the downward force applied to the brush assembly 1 cancel eachother so that magnitude of force required to pull the brush assembly 1is smaller than the force required to push it. Therefore, when pullingthe brush assembly 1, the brush 20 does not rotate with respect to thebrush body 10 and may remain parallel with the cleaning surface as shownin FIG. 3. At this time, the under sealing 32 of the sealing part 30 maybe positioned on the upper sealing 31 (as shown in FIG. 9) so thatoutside air cannot directly enter the suction pathway 11 of the brushbody 10 through the sealing part 30. As a result, the user may not haveto apply much force to pull the brush assembly 1.

Hereinafter, a vacuum cleaner 100 having a brush assembly 1 for a vacuumcleaner according to a second non-limiting embodiment of the presentinvention will be explained with reference to FIG. 10. Referring to FIG.10, the vacuum cleaner 100 according to another non-limiting embodimentof the present invention may include a cleaner body 110, an extensionpipe assembly 120, and a brush assembly 1.

The cleaner body 110 generates suction force to suck in contaminants. Tothis end, the cleaner body 110 may include a vacuum generator (notshown) for generating suction force. Also, the cleaner body 110 mayinclude a dust collector (not shown) that separates and collectscontaminants from air sucked via the brush assembly 1 and the extensionpipe assembly 120.

The extension pipe assembly 120 may enable the cleaner body 110 to be influid communication with the brush assembly 1. The extension pipeassembly 120 may include an extension pipe 121, a handle 123, and asuction hose 122. The extension pipe 121 may be configured to guide thesucked contaminants and may be in fluid communication with the brushassembly 1. The handle 123 may be grasped by the user to push or pullthe brush assembly 1 when in use. The suction hose 122 may guide aircontaining contaminants guided through the extension pipe 121 to thecleaner body 110.

The brush assembly 1 may be in fluid communication with the extensionpipe 121 of the extension pipe assembly 120 and may suck contaminantsfrom the cleaning surface. The brush assembly 1 may include a brush body10, a brush 20, and a sealing part 30. The brush body 10 may have asuction pathway 11 in fluid communication with the extension pipe 121.The brush 20 may have a suction port 21 in fluid communication with thesuction pathway 11 of the brush body 10, and may be disposed to rotatewith respect to an end of the brush body 10 by a predetermined angle. Asthe brush assembly 1 moves in a direction, the brush 20 may rotate withrespect to the brush body 10 so that the sealing part 30 may form a gapG for outside air to directly enter the suction pathway 11 of the brushbody 10 through. Then as the brush assembly 1 moves in a reversedirection, the sealing part 30 may close the gap G The sealing part 30may include an upper sealing 31 formed at a bottom end of the suctionpathway 11, and an under sealing 32 extending from the top end of thesuction port 21 of the brush 20 and sliding on the upper sealing 31. Asthe brush assembly 1 moves in a direction, the brush 20 may rotate withrespect to the brush body 10 so that a gap G through which air may enterthe suction pathway 11 of the brush body 10 may be formed between abottom end 31 a of the upper sealing 31 and a top end 33 a of the undersealing 32. In the present embodiment, when the handle 123 is pushed,the brush assembly 1 may move forward to allow the gap G of the sealingpart 30 to open. When the handle 123 is pulled, the brush assembly 1 maymove backward to allow the gap G of the sealing part 30 to close. Thebrush body 10, the brush 20, and the sealing part 30 included as part ofthe brush assembly 1 may be the same as the above description.

When cleaning a carpet, a user powers on the vacuum cleaner 100, graspsthe handle 123 of the extension pipe assembly 120, and then pushes orpulls the brush assembly 1 so as to clean the carpet. As the user graspsand pushes the handle 123, the brush assembly 1 is moved forward. Then,the brush 20 may rotate with respect to the brush body 10, therebyinclining downwardly with respect to the brush body 10. As a result, agap G may be formed between the under sealing 32 of the brush 20 and theupper sealing 31 of the brush body 10. As the gap G is formed betweenthe under sealing 32 and the upper sealing 31, outside air D maydirectly enter the suction pathway 11 through the gap G as shown in FIG.8. As outside air D directly enters the suction pathway 11, the negativepressure applied to the suction port 21 may decrease, so that magnitudeof force required for the user to push the brush assembly 1 isdecreased. As a result, with the present invention, it is moreconvenient for the user to clean the carpet as compared with theconventional vacuum cleaner.

In more detail, when the user pulls the handle 123, the brush assembly 1is moved backward. At this time, the brush 20 may remain parallel withthe brush body 10 as shown in FIG. 3. As the brush assembly 1 movesbackward, magnitude of the negative pressure applied to the suction port21 is small (as described above), so that a magnitude of the forcerequired for the user to pull the brush assembly 1 is not great.

In other words, when cleaning carpet using the vacuum cleaner 100according to an embodiment of the present invention, the user isrequired to apply less force as compared with the conventional vacuumcleaner. When pulling the brush assembly 1, the user can clean byapplying a force of substantially equal magnitude to the force requiredfor the conventional vacuum cleaner. Therefore, with the presentinvention, it is more convenient for the user to clean the carpet ascompared with the conventional vacuum cleaner.

While the embodiments of the present invention have been described,additional variations and modifications of the embodiments may occur tothose skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventiveconcepts. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims shall beconstrued to include both the above embodiments and all such variationsand modifications that fall within the spirit and scope of theinvention.

1. A brush assembly for a vacuum cleaner, the brush assembly comprising: a brush body having a suction pathway in fluid communication with a cleaner body of the vacuum cleaner, a brush having a suction port in fluid communication with the suction pathway of the brush body, the brush being disposed to rotate at the brush body, and a sealing part configured to seal between the suction pathway and the suction port for the brush to rotate with respect to the brush body, the sealing part forming a gap for outside air to enter the suction pathway of the brush body through as the brush rotates with respect to the brush body.
 2. The brush assembly of claim 1, wherein the sealing part comprises: an upper sealing part formed at the suction pathway, and an under sealing part extending from a top end of the suction port, the under sealing sliding on the upper sealing, wherein, as the brush rotates with respect to the brush body at a predetermined angle, the gap is formed between the upper sealing and the under sealing so that outside air enters the suction pathway through the gap.
 3. The brush assembly of claim 2, wherein the brush includes a hinge disposed at a side of the suction port, and has at least an outside air hole formed at a part of the under sealing opposite to the hinge.
 4. The brush assembly of claim 2, wherein the upper sealing and under sealing are substantially formed as rectangular pipes, and a top end of one wall of the under sealing and a bottom end of the upper sealing form the gap.
 5. The brush assembly of claim 4, wherein the one wall of the under sealing is farthest away from a rotation center of the brush.
 6. The brush assembly of claim 5, wherein the one wall of the under sealing forms the gap between the top end thereof and the bottom end of the upper sealing as the brush inclines 2 degrees or more downward with respect to the brush body.
 7. The brush assembly of claim 4, wherein the under sealing is bent based on a rotation center of the brush.
 8. The brush assembly of claim 1, wherein as the brush assembly moves in a first direction, the brush rotates with respect to the brush body so that the gap is formed in the sealing part, and as the brush assembly moves in a second direction, the gap is closed.
 9. A vacuum cleaner, comprising: a cleaner body configured to generate suction force; an extension pipe assembly in fluid communication with the cleaner body, the extension pipe assembly forming a passage for contaminants; and a brush assembly in fluid communication with the extension pipe assembly, the brush assembly being configured to draw in the contaminants, wherein the brush assembly comprises, a brush body having a suction pathway in fluid communication with the extension pipe assembly, a brush having a suction port in fluid communication with the suction pathway of the brush body, the brush being disposed to rotate at the brush body, and a sealing part configured to enable outside air to enter the suction pathway of the brush body as the brush assembly moves in a first direction, and configured to prevent outside air from entering the suction pathway of the brush body as the brush assembly moves in a second direction.
 10. The vacuum cleaner of claim 9, wherein the sealing part comprises: an upper sealing formed at the suction pathway of the brush body, and an under sealing extending from a top end of the suction port of the brush, the under sealing sliding on the upper sealing, and wherein, as the brush assembly moves in the first direction, the brush rotates with respect to the brush body at a predetermined angle so that the gap is formed between the upper sealing and the under sealing.
 11. A brush assembly, comprising: a brush body, a brush; and means for forming a gap through which air passes.
 12. The brush assembly of claim 11, wherein the brush body further comprises a suction pathway.
 13. The brush assembly of claim 12, wherein the gap enables air to travel through the suction pathway.
 14. The brush assembly of claim 11, wherein the means for forming a gap includes: first means for sealing; and second means for sealing.
 15. The brush assembly of claim 14, wherein the first means for sealing is slideable relative to the second means for sealing.
 16. The brush assembly of claim 14, wherein at least one of the first means for sealing and the second means for sealing is flexible.
 17. The brush assembly of claim 11, wherein the brush is configured to rotate about a hinge. 